The Church as the Temple of God—The Goal of God’s Eternal Economy
Message Five
The Way Christ Builds the Church as the Temple of God
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith…—Eph. 3:17.
In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit—Eph. 2:21-22.
Word of Appetizer
What is the way Christ builds the church as the temple of God?
Christ builds the church as the temple of God by building Himself into us, by the mingling of divinity with humanity, and through our growth in life and our being joined together in the divine life.
Spiritual Burden
Christ builds the church as the temple of God by building Himself into us, by the mingling of divinity with humanity, and through our growth in life and our being joined together in the divine life.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Christ builds the church as the temple of God by building Himself into us.
Christ builds the church as the temple of God by the mingling of divinity with humanity.
Christ builds the church as the temple of God through the believers’ growth in life and their being joined together in the divine life.
The Experience of Life
We need to let God work Christ as the Spirit into every part (the mind, emotion, and will) of our being so that we will be constituted with Christ.
Practice and Application
When we grow in the divine life and when we are joined together in the divine life, we are the building, the temple of God.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
…, I will raise up your seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever—1 Sam. 7:12-13.
That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith …—Eph. 3:17.
I. Christ Builds the Church as the Temple of God by Building Himself into Us
•At the beginning of the New Testament, Christ is introduced first as the Son of David to fulfill God’s covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7.
•David wanted to build God a house, but God wanted to build Himself into David.
•The intrinsic significance of 2 Samuel 7:12-14a is that the Triune God is working Himself in His processed and consummated Trinity into His chosen people.
•We need to let God work Christ as the Spirit into every part of our being so that we will be constituted with Christ.
Key Verses (2)
In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you—John 14:20.
And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men …—Rev. 21:2-3.
II. Christ Builds the Church as the Temple of God by the Mingling of Divinity with Humanity
• The true meaning of building is that God is building Himself into man and building man into Himself; this is the mingling of God and man.
•God’s unique purpose is to mingle Himself with us so that He becomes our life, our nature, and our content, and we become His corporate expression.
•The mingling of God and man is an intrinsic union of the elements of divinity and humanity to form one organic entity.
• The Body of Christ is the enlargement of Christ, the enlargement of the One who is the mingling of God and man.
•Eventually, the Triune God and redeemed humanity will be mingled and built up as one entity—the New Jerusalem.
Key Verses (3)
In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit—Eph. 2:21-22.
Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love—Eph. 4:16.
The Believers’ Growth in Life;
Being Joined Together in the Divine Life
III.Christ builds the church as the temple of God through the believers’ growth in life and their being joined together in the divine life:
•In Christ, who is the cornerstone, all the building is fitted together and growing into a holy temple in the Lord.
•Ephesians 4:16 and Colossians 2:19 speak of the growth of the Body: To grow is to have Christ added into us.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 David wanted to build God a house, but God wanted to build Himself into David (2 Sam. 7:11-14a)
(Please explain the intrinsic significance of 2 Samuel 7.)
T2 God’s economy is to work Himself into us in Christ (Eph. 3:17)
(How can we exercise to let God work Christ as the Spirit into every part of our being?)
D2
T1 God will have a habitation not by our doing or working but by His building (Matt.16:18)
(Please explain how Christ builds Himself into us.)
T2 Christ builds the church as the temple of God by the mingling of divinity with humanity (Eph. 2:21-22)
(Please explain that the true meaning of building is the mingling of God and man.)
D3
T1 The Body of Christ is the enlargement of Christ, the enlargement of the mingling of God and man (Eph. 1:22-23)
(Please explain that in Acts, the enlargement of the mingling of God and man produced the Body of Christ.)
T2 The Body of Christ is absolutely a matter in the mingled spirit (Rom. 8:4-6)
(Please use examples to illustrate that in the church life we should not care for rules and regulations; we should simply care to be in the Spirit.)
D4
T1 Letting God carry out His building work within us (Phil. 1:6)
(Please use examples to illustrate that all our problems today are due to our shortage of having God in Christ built into our being.)
T2 The New Jerusalem is the completion, the consummation, of God’s building (Rev. 21:3, 22)
(Please explain that the consummation of Christ’s building is that God and man, man and God, are built up together.)
D5
T1 Growing up together and being joined together in the divine life (Eph. 4:15-16)
(Please explain that the actual building is our growth and our union in the divine life.)
T2 The growth in life is the building (Eph. 4:15-16)
(Please explain that the more we grow in life, the more we are built.)
D6
T1 The Body grows with the growth of God (Col. 2:19b)
(Please explain that God in Himself is perfect and complete, but there is still the need for Him to increase within us.)
T2 Only God can give growth (1 Cor. 3:6)
(How should we exercise to let God grow within us?)
